Sometimes, a girl walks into a bar and immediately knows it’s going to be a hit.

Visiting Adrift a few weekends ago was one of those times.

It was about 8 p.m. on Saturday, and the brand-new tiki bar was active, but not quite full. A friendly server offered any of the available booths to sit in, though it took a second to adjust to the dim, amber light and see what was out there.

After a quick peek in both of the main rooms, the larger front room beckoned: Shiny bamboo walls, yellow-green banquettes and a stellar view of the bamboo-backed, cleanly lit bar.

It’s not that the other room — ruby-red banquettes and sexy hula gals — was unpleasant. The main room’s softly glowing, hanging blowfish lamps were just too glorious to resist.

Once seated, it was time to pore over the extensive cocktail list. Naturally, classic tiki drinks are the stars here, from the deadly Zombie to a “Scorpion Bowl” o’ booze for two. Most of the drink descriptions include a tip of the hat to their 20th-century originators, like Allen Smith’s “Polynesian Paralysis,” a 1960 blend of rye and lemon, orange and pineapple juices.

Prices are on the steep side, but the drinks are properly strong — the range tops out at $14 for a Painkiller with extra rum added. There’s a good selection of beer and wine, too, plus a few fresh, fruit-filled non-alcoholic cocktails that come in at $5 each.

The kitchen dishes up an array of small plates to fuel the tropical madness. The goat cheese empanadas and lemongrass chicken thigh sounded especially appealing, bringing to mind warm breezes and home-style simplicity.

As evening turned into night, the cocktail headhunters began to arrive in earnest. Happy voices melded with the plinking exotica on the sound system, punctuated by occasional, ferocious pounding — the bartenders at Adrift hand-crush ice for the drinks.

With the window shutters firmly closed to the outside world and umbrellas perched in deceptively prim drinks, Adrift felt like a time- and place-warp. Suddenly, we were all transported to a Honolulu hotel bar, circa 1965, at the height of tourist season.

It was hard to leave. But if the tiki gods get their way, Adrift will be anchored here for a long time.

The Tip: There are two patios at Adrift — one in front, and an alluring, nonsmoking oasis out back that features a roaring fire and beach-hut ambience.

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